Case Story

Initiative Name:Dengue prevention among border populations in the lower Uruguay River basinInitiative Status:Completed and consolidating resultsAdaptation, replication or scaling up of a previous initiative?NoModality of the initiative:TriangularCategory(ies):Disease Prevention and ControlKeywords:Dengue

Initiative Cost/Budget and Sources of Funding

Initiative Total Cost/Budget: (in US$)$80.782

Initiative Description

SummaryDengue is a viral infection that affects inhabitants of tropical and sub-tropical regions. It is a febrile illness with symptoms such as severe headaches and muscle and joint pain appearing 3–14 days after the infectious bite of an Aedes aegypti mosquito, the main transmitter of the disease. Today dengue is still a serious public health problem in the Americas, especially during epidemic periods. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children. Dengue and the Aedes aegypti mosquito have progressively expanded their geographic and demographic reach despite efforts made to control them. More importantly, dengue and its serious forms are related not only to climatic or ecological conditions, but also increasingly to economic, social, and cultural factors as well as to access to health services.

Thus, the main purpose of this project was to strengthen the capacity of populations on the border of Uruguay and Argentina to prevent and control dengue in the area through the Integrated Management Strategy (IMS-dengue). The cooperation resulted in significant tangible products, such as a consensually agreed-upon tool for entomological and epidemiological risk stratification, a clinical guide to care for patients with dengue, and a manual for surveillance and control of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti. The project also served as an incentive to work on a complementary tool that will make it possible to define areas of risk within a locality itself. Because of the project both countries are better prepared—from an operational and field activity standpoint as well as with improved diagnostic and patient care capacities —to face a possible dengue epidemic in their border areas.